Crimping-tool for sealing cans.



No. 777,909. PATENTED DEC. 20, 1904.

M. MAURAN.

GRIMPING TOOL FOR SEALING CANS.

APPLIOATION FILED APR. 5. 1904.

'no MODEL.

9/144 I 3513 firm-"QM UNITED STATES Patented December 20, 1904.

PATENT OFFICE.

MAX MAURAN, OF NIAGARA FALLS, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR TO OASTNER ELECTROLYTIC ALKALI OO., A CORPORATION OF VIRGINIA.

CRlMPlNG-TOOL FOR SEALING CANS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 777,909, dated December 20, 1904.

Application filed April 5, 1904. Serial No. 201.689.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, MAX MAUEAN, a citizen of the United States, residing at Niagara Falls, in the county of Niagara and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Crimping-Tools for Sealing Oans, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

This invention is a hand-operated crimping- I0 tool for sealing covers or lids in sheet-metal cans or receptacles, the object being to provide a device of simple construction by means of which a sheet-metal can or receptacle can be substantially hermetically sealed by a simple and rapid operation.

The receptacle upon which my improved tool is particularly intended for use is a sheetmetal can of approximately the size of a barrel and used for the shipment of caustic soda and other chemicals. It is desirable to seal such receptacles substantially air-tight, and to accomplish this heretofore it has been customary to use a cast-iron cover, which is inserted into the opening of the receptacle and 2 5 secured by means of a lock-joint, after which for the purpose of making a substantially air-tight seal a suitable cement has been applied to the joint. By the use of a crimpingtool of the character contemplated by my in- 0 vention I am able to use a sheet-metal cover, which is lighter and cheaper than one of cast metal, and to at once hermetically seal the receptacle by mechanically binding the cover in the orifice to which it is fitted, thus dis- 3 5 pensing with the cement and producing a better seal from every standpoint.

My improved crimping-tool consists of a head having a handle thereon and an opening extending therethrough, a second handle piv- 4o oted to said head and having one end projecting through said opening, and crimpingrollers mounted on said head and on the bent end of said second handle.

The details of this construction will be more 4 5 fully brought out in the description which follows, and ,with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a side elevation of the tool. Fig. 2 is a plan of the same. Fig. 3 is a section through the cover of the receptacle be- 5 fore it has been sealed by the improved tool, and Fig. 4: is a similar section after the cover has been scaled and showing the tool in operative position in dotted lines.

The head of the sheet-metal can or receptacle is indicated at a. It contains at the center or other location a circular opening in which the cover is to .be fitted and sealed. This cover is prepared in advance and as prepared consists of a disk portion 6, bounded by a perpendicular flange b, which terminates in another flange, 6 at right angles to the former or in a plane parallel to the disk portion I). The external diameter of the flange I) is substantially the same as that of the open- 6 5 ing in the receptacle, and the outer flange b is adapted to rest flat upon the external surface of the cover a. It is the function of my improved tool to bind this cover to the edges of the opening of the receptacle by a distorting or crimping process which produces a substantially hermetical seal.

The tool consists of a head 0 of approximately triangular shape with one of its apexes extended in an inclined direction to form a socket c for a handle (Z, which is suitably fitted therein. At the base of this extension 0 or near the apex of the triangular portion a rectangular vertical opening 6 in the head is provided, and in each of the other two apexes or corners of the head other openings are formed for the reception of studs or shafts, the heads of which are indicated by f and f, while their lower extremities project through the head and carry rollers g and g, equipped 3 5 with flanges 9 The stud-axles upon which these rollers are hung are preferably tilted, so that the outer edges of the flanges will be directed slightly downward.

t' is a second handle for the tool of substan- 9 tially the same form as the handle (Z, but having its inner end bent, as shown by the dotted lines 2', and shaped to pass through the opening a in the head 0. It is pivoted to the head by means of a pin which passes through the bend of the handle. The lower end of the bent portion projects through the head 0 and forms an axle for a third roller 70, similar in all respects to the rollers g and g and having its flange g in substantially the same plane as those of the other two rollers. It will be seen that the motions of the handle i permitted by its pivot will cause the roller 71 to approach or recede from the other two rollers, and thus decrease or increase the size of the circle to which all three rollers are tangent. To guide the handle '5 and brace it for the operation hereinafter referred to, two guards or lugs 71; k are formed upon the head 0 and embrace the opposite sides of the handle.

With this tool the operation of sealing the sheet-metal receptacle is as follows: The cover having been placed in the opening of the receptacle, as shown in Fig. 3, the tool is adjusted thereto in the manner illustrated in Figs. 1 and 4:, the handle t' being raised to throw the rollers together and admit them readily into the concave space of the cover. When seated therein, handle i is forced downward, which throws the flanges of all three rollers against the lower inner corner of the flange 7). Then while pressing downward on both handles the tool is swung around or twisted upon a vertical axis substantially coincident with the center of the triangular head 0, several twists being administered alternately in opposite directions to cause the flanges of the rollers to roll around the entire circumference of flange 6 while the outward radial pressure is being exerted upon them. This operation causes the lower or inner portion of flange b of the cover to be forced radially outward and be driven tightly against the face and under side of the edge of the opening in the cover a. The shape of the flange on the roller and the depth of the flange t are such that the metal of the cover is forced into very intimate contact with the edge of the opening and forms a substantially air-tight joint therewith. The effectiveness of this seal is largely augmented by the fact that the flange b on the cover has considerable depth and is resting flat against the outer surface of the head a, from which position it is prevented from springing by the body or hub portion of the roller, which rests against the upper or outer part of flange 6 while the lower or inner part is being driven outward. After the sealing operation the tool is removed by simply lifting it from place, the handle 71 being thereby moved with respect to the head 0 and the rollers released from engagement with the cover.

It will be noted that the pivotal movement of the handle or lever 2' is limited only by its engagement with the upper surface of the head 0 and that when the tool is in operative position to crimp a sealing cap or cover in place the two handles (Z and 7; are practically in line with each other and extend in sub stantially diametrically opposite directions from each other. The result is that the greatest possible leverage may be obtained for turning or twisting the tool. It will also be noted that during the turning movement of the tool all strain which is caused by said turning movement is kept off the pivot-pin j, the same being received and taken up by the guards or lugs and by the bent portion z" of the handle or lever 2', which bears against the walls of the opening 0. The shape of the handle t', therefore, and the opening 6 and guards k are important features of the invention.

It is observed that the head 0 may be provided with only one roller, in which case the tool would carry one fixed and one movable roller; but the results obtained would not be as satisfactory as with three rollers, which render the tool self-centering within the cover.

I am aware that crimping-tools of this general nature have heretofore been invented; but I am not aware of anything so simple and easily operated as the tool herein described.

Having described my invention, I claim 1. A crimping-tool for can-sealing purposes, consisting of a head having a handle thereon and an opening extending therethrough, a second handle pivoted to said head and having one end projecting through said opening, guards on said head for preventing the independent lateral movement of said second handle, and crimping-rollers mounted on said head and on one end of said second handle.

2. A crimping-tool for can-sealing purposes, consisting of a head having a handle thereon and an opening extending therethrough, a second handle pivoted to said head and having a bent end which projects through said opening, a pair of guard-lugs projecting upwardly from said head between which said second handle is adapted to lit, and crimpingrollers mounted on said head and on the bent end of said second handle.

In witness whereof I subscribe my signature in presence of two witnesses.

MAX MAURAN.

Witnesses:

R. E. MoCoNNELL, H. H. HAOKENHEIMER. 

